This story was published in The Big Issue in January 2013. A shorter version was broadcast on ABC 774 on 20 January 2017. IT IS the day before Australia Day 2012 and a man is asking me the name of this part of the country. The traditional name. It is six in the morning, on […]

The Big Issue has just published Leap Of Faith, a story about the Christmas, long ago, when I fell down the steps outside church. It was the Christmas, I like to think a little too neatly, that God and I parted ways. It was not a dramatic falling out – only those few steps – […]

Here, in full, is The Final Quarter, first published in The Big Issue (#570, 7 – 20 September 2018). Your local vendor may still have some back issues. (So to speak.) Leonard Cohen probably never kicked an Australian Rules football but I know what he meant when he sang “I ache in the places […]

Thanks to Hobsons Bay Libraries, I am part of today’s Australian Reading Hour. I’ve dipped my toe into the world of podcasts and recorded (on my very own phone!) a very short memoir. (Okay, you won’t be surprised that it’s a Stereo Story. Based on a George Harrison song.) Four other writers from Hobsons Bay […]

It’s been a while since I’ve written for The Big Issue Australia. The Final Quarter is another footy story but it quotes Leonard Cohen at the start: “I ache in the places where I used to play”. Find your local vendor and ask for the latest edition, # 570. Cheers